Recently, Dr. Fishel was honored to appear as a guest on the Live Happy podcast, talking about family dinners and discussing her book with listeners. In the episode, Dr. Fishel offers research, wisdom and advice about:

Why regular family dinners are great for the body, brain and the spirit

Tips for thriving conversation around the dinner table

Why playing with your food is beneficial to mental health

Ideas to overcome picky eaters, busy schedules and tension at the table

Each year, more than 9 in 10 Americans gather around the table with family and friends for Thanksgiving. But only 50 percent of us eat with our family on a regular basis. That’s too bad. Twenty years of research has shown that family dinners are great for the brain (enhancing preschool vocabulary and raising test scores), body (improving cardiovascular health in teens and lowering the odds of obesity) and spirit (reducing rates of behavioral problems, stress and substance abuse). But in extolling the virtues of the family dinner, we may have obscured what the meal is actually about and why it serves parents and children. In that gap lies a thick stew of myths.

1. Teens don’t want to eat with their parents
2. Family dinners are anti-feminist
3. Family dinners depend on a homemade meal
4. Families don’t have time to pull it off
5. Food fights make family dinners impossible

Read the article in full and find out what Dr. Fishel has to say about these five common family dinner myths on The Washington Post.

Dr. Fishel has written extensively about the many benefits of family dinners, including a boost in literacy skills for kids, and how to use dinnertime as a fun opportunity to encourage reading. At this workshop, participants will eat foods from favorite children’s books, have conversations about reading, and have fun telling their own stories.

What’s your favorite food from a book? Green eggs and ham, Strega Nona’s magic noodles, or clam chowder from Moby Dick? Come eat, talk, and explore the many connections between dinner and reading.

Last week, Dr. Fishel had the pleasure of appearing as a guest on the Mom Enough radio show to weigh in on the importance of family dinners. During the show, entitled “The Why and How of Mealtimes that Build Health and Happiness for You and Your Family,” Dr. Fishel spoke about the many benefits of family meals; how to work around the common challenges that often stand in the way of having regular dinners together; tips for making the family table a more enjoyable place to be; and much more. The Mom Enough hosts were so excited by the interview that they say they’ll be listening to the audio recording at least once a month from now on to remind themselves of the many ways they can transform dinnertime in their own homes!

Find out more about the interview and the Mom Enough radio show, and hear the full audio recording of Dr. Fishel’s appearance, on MomEnough.com.

Of course, it’s food that gets everyone to the table, but isn’t it the conversation and the stories that keep us there? The many documented benefits of family dinners — lower rates of depression, substance abuse and stress, and higher achievement scores, positive mood and self-esteem — don’t derive from how many hours you spent cooking the dinner and it doesn’t matter if you use heirloom parsnips. No, it’s almost certainly the conversation around the table that we have to thank for all those benefits to our health and wellbeing.

Conversation comes in several different flavors: Questions that ask about the day, storytelling and games.

Read the full article, and get some of Dr. Fishel’s best tips and ideas for making family dinner a time everyone will love, at DrGreene.com.